Early Morning Epiphany
by Klutzygirl33
Summary: Future fic. Riley woke up one day and realized she was in love with her best friend.


**I don't own Girl Meets World and never will. No copyright infringement intended.**

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When Riley woke up one morning – just days before her seventeenth birthday – she had no idea that her life was about to change. She was about to start eating her cereal and thought of Maya when it suddenly hit her. Her hand froze with the cereal still on her spoon. Topanga eyed her daughter in concern. "You okay, Riley? You look like you were just hit by a truck. You're not sick, are you?"

Riley shook her head and set down her spoon, her appetite now completely gone. Holy shit, she was in love with iMaya/i. Her best friend. How was she supposed to deal with that? She and Lucas had broken up a while ago and she hadn't been interested in anybody since then but this changed everything. "I'm fine. It's nothing," she lied.

Topanga didn't buy it but she didn't push. Riley would tell her what was bothering her when she was ready – that was the way this always worked. She'd be there whenever her daughter wanted to talk to her. "Okay then. Have fun at school!"

"You know I won't!" Riley called back as she rushed out of the apartment. How was she supposed to act around Maya now? Should she even tell her? What if she ruined their friendship by doing so? That was the exact opposite of what she wanted to happen.

Cory noticed his daughter's odd behavior immediately but didn't question her about it since he had work to do. Besides, he was no longer her teacher and didn't have an inkling of any crisis he could talk to her about during class (that had been an interesting few years but he was glad that was over). After she ran into the garbage can again – one she knew was there – during lunch – he finally had enough. Ignoring the laughing Maya, he confronted her. "Something's going on with you and I want to know what it is."

She laughed nervously. "Nothing's going on with me, Dad. I'm fine!" Riley bumped into the garbage can again, completely disproving her point, and then rushed to the library.

Cory looked at Maya. "Do you know what's going on with her?"

Maya shrugged. "She hasn't said anything to me but she's acting really weird. Even for Riley – she hasn't been like this in years." She wondered why and if something had changed recently.

"Well tell me if you find out."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not spying on her for you anymore, Mr. Matthews!"

"I didn't ask you to. But please do, if you feel up to it." Cory smiled at her and then went to yell at the group of boys acting up in the corner.

Not even books she didn't want to read could distract Riley. She eventually had enough and marched into a bathroom stall and locked herself in to cry. Her chest heaved with sobs and she wrapped her arms around herself as she struggled to come to term with these newly discovered feelings. Maya was probably going to let her down gently and then they'd slowly drift apart until they never saw each other again. Riley couldn't let that happen so she'd have to keep this to herself forever. It'd be okay (she just had to convince herself of that and actually believe it until the end of time). "You aren't going to ruin anything," she whispered.

After three days of stumbling around and lying, Riley finally broke. She couldn't handle keeping this secret anymore. "Auggie and I will go outside and you can talk to your father alone if you want."

"I don't want to go outside," Auggie whined.

"Tough luck." Topanga was glad that their daughter could at least open up to someone if it wasn't her. She didn't take it personally – she and Auggie were just as close as Cory and Riley.

"I'll tell you later," Cory mouthed to his wife before she and their son walked outside.

"Get as many details as you can," Topanga mouthed back.

"Talk out loud." Auggie glared at his parents but followed his mother out of the apartment so Riley and Cory could be alone.

"You finally ready to tell me what's bothering you, Riley?" Cory didn't know how much longer he could wait patiently for her to tell him what was on her mind. He was a little freaked out about this.

Riley sighed and sat down on the couch. "I'm in love with Maya," she finally admitted after ten minutes of silence.

He barely reacted at all. "Is that is?"

She glared at him. "Is that it? Did you know? What the hell, Dad." How could he know and not tell her? What was up with that?"

Cory cupped the back of her head. "Yes, I've known for a while – you may not have figured it out until recently but it was pretty obvious to everyone around you. Sorry, kid. You want to be with her?"

"I don't want to drive her away but more than anything. I haven't felt like this since Lucas. I didn't even feel this way for Natalie and Mark." That still threw her off every time Riley thought about it.

"Then go for it. I was scared to ask your mom out but Uncle Shawn pushed me to do it and that was the best decision I've ever made. I think you'll be surprised. She probably feels the same way about you." He knew Maya felt the same way about Riley but Cory refused to break the confidence she had him in.

"You really think so?" Riley was scared about what this could mean.

"I do. And Riley?" What he was about to tell her was important.

"What is it, Dad?" She sighed and waited impatiently for the lecture that was about to ensue.

Cory grinned at her. "If you do this? Go all in and don't you think about hurting her. Maya's fragile and it would kill her if this ended badly. You can fight but never let it go on for long."

Riley did a double take. "Wait, are you giving ime/i the 'don't hurt her' talk? I'm your daughter! You're supposed to be talking to Maya like this."

He shrugged. "I know but you know about Maya's home life. I'm just looking out for both of you. And good luck telling her." Cory patted her shoulder and then went to go make a sandwich.

Riley waited another two days before she finally decided to come clean to her best friend. And the way she did it? She walked up to Maya and kissed her. "Wow. What was that for?" a dazed Maya questioned after they pulled apart.

"Because I want to be more than friends with you, Maya. I might have some love feelings."

"You might? Because I know I have some love feelings." Maya felt all the stress and worry melt off her shoulders and sighed happily. She had realized a year ago that she was in love with Riley and had just been waiting for her best friend to catch up (Farkle was quick to point out that Maya should tell her but she didn't want that).

"I know I do too." Riley laughed happily when Maya kissed her again.

No one they were close with were surprised when Riley and Maya confessed they were in love and together – they had seen this coming a long time ago. And for the first time in her entire life, Maya felt true happiness. She was with the love of her life (Riley felt the same way about her). Nothing could compare to that. The early morning epiphany had been the best thing to ever happen to Riley, and she was glad she had been able to lean on her father for support.


End file.
